Rock-drill.



PATEN-TBDAUG. 1, 1905.

A11R. LANGFORD.

ROCKr DRILL; PPLIGATIVON FILED DEO. 7, 1903.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

y fila/@iran Y No. 796,22. PATENTED AUG. 1, 1905.

' E. R. LANGPORD.

ROCK DRILL..

APPLIOATION FILED Dnc. 7. 1903.

2 sums-sum1" UNITED sTATns PATENT OFFICE.

EDWIN yR. LANGFORD, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA; ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TOJESSIE C. HEWITT, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

BooK-DRILL.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Aug. 1, 1905.

4 Application led December '7, 1903. Serial No. 184,140.

,To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN R. LANGFORD, a-

cure the advantages of an air-drill without the expense of installingthe plant required for an air-drill-such as air-compressors, piping,@cci-and this object is attained by producng the compressed air withinthe machine itse f.

Another object is to impel thev drill by compressed air confineddirectly behind and in a lstraight line with the drill-carrying element,so that the striking of the drill against the rock is directly caused bythe expansion of the air and indirectly by the mechanical operation ofthe parts of the drill.. Thus all jar on the mechanism of the drill orprime actuating parts is eliminated. y

Another object is to provide means for maintaining the supply ofcompressed air `at a substantially uniform pressure.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rock-drill which issimple in construction, effective in operation, readily controlled, yanddurable.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear fromthe following description.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention, and, referring tothe same, Figure I is a vertical longitudinal section through the drillwith the piston retracted. Fig. II is a plan view of the drill with thepiston ad'- vanccd. A portion of the cylinder is broken away to show thepiston and rie-bar, and the auxiliary air-pump is shown in horizontalsection. Fig. III is a plan view ofthe auxiliary air-pump and adjacentportions of the drill. Fig. IV is a section `on line IV IV, Fig. I,looking in the direction of the arrow. Fig.

y V is a view lookingat the front toward the rearof "the front end partsof the drill, the parts lin the background being removed. Fig. Vl is`auvertical longitudinal section through and clutch. Fig. is a jectingfrom the rear of the shell 1.

perspective detail of a sliding pawl of the clutch. Fig. VIIIis a viewlooking toward the lower face of the upper member of the clutch. Fig.IXis a view looking toward the upper face of thelower member of theclutch.

Fig. X is an `end view of a valve in the airpump, which controls theadmission of air from the pump to the cylinder of the drill. Fig. XI isa perspective View of the reliefvalve for the air-pump. Fig. XII isacrosssection on line XII XII of Fig.4 II.-

1 designates a supporting-shell having ways 2, and 3 is thedrill-cylinder, which is mounted on a shoe 4, which slides in the ways2. Provjecting from the lower part of the cylinder 3 is a nut 5, whichengages a feed-screw 6,V the latter being rotatably mounted in a head 7,which is attached to supporting-rods 8, pro- A suitable crank 9 isprovidedon the end of the screw 6. Projecting from 'the forward end ofthe cylinder 3 isa tubular extension 10, the uppervpart of which isslotted, as at 11.

The extension lOxtakes into the forward end of the cylinder'B, fittingclosely therein, and is provided with lianges 12, which abut against thefront end of the cylinder. The inner end of the extension 10 thus formsa shoulder v. A sleeve 13 is slidably mounted within the extension 10and is provided with a wing 14, which plays back and forth through theslot 11 vwhen the drill is in operation, the wing 14 preventing thesleeve 13 from turning.

15 is a piston which is mounted on the piston-rod 16 and is providedwith a nose 17, forming a shoulder g, and the nose 17 abuts against ashoulder 18, formed on the piston-rod, therebeing a pin 19, whichfastens the piston in place on the piston-rod. The piston-rod 16 extendsforward through the sleeve 13 and carries on its end asuitable chuck 2Ofor the attachment of the drill 21. The'for ward end ofthe sleeve 13abnts against the chuck 2 0, and a collar c, which is pinned on thepiston-rod, holds the sleeve 13 securely in place on the piston-rod.'Attached to the rear end of the piston-rod is a riebar 22, which playsthrough a rifled sleeve 23, which is rotatabljT mounted in a stationaryblock 24, the latter being rigidly fastened within the cylinder 3. The'sleeve 23 is provided Vwith a ratchet 25, and suitable dogs 26 preventrearward movement of the ratchet and sleeve 23.. l

the cylinder 3, being provided with a forward extension 28, whichclosely fits within the rear portion of the shell forming the cylinder.The head 27 is provided with a vertical journalbearing 29, the upperpart of which is enlarged to form a cup 30.

rlhe driving-shaft comprises two sections, the upper section 310i' whichis mounted in a journal-bearing b, while the lower section 32 isconnected to the upper section by a clutch 33, which may be of anyconstruction which will allow the upper section of the shaft to rotateahead of the lower section should occasion require.

34 designates a flexible shaft which is attached by a suitable coupling35 with the lower section of the driving-shaft 32. The driving-shaft maybe a continuous solid shaft, and the employment of the clutch 33 is notnecessarily essential, as will be hereinafter pointed out.

As it may be desirable sometimes to employ a clutch such as mentioned, Ihave shown and illustrated one form, in which 36 designates the lowermember which is rigidly mounted on the upper end of the lower section ofthe driving-shaft 32 and which also serves as a fly-wheel. The lowersection of the clutch 36 is provided with pockets 37, which receiveslidable dogs 38. The slidable dogs 38 have oppositely-inclined faces,as shown, and the dogs are prevented from turning axially by means ofsplines 39, which take into suitable grooves formed in the lower part 36of the clutch. Suitable springs 40 are employed for resiliently holdingthe dogs up.

41 designates the upper portion of the clutch, the lower face of whichis contiguous to the upper face of the lower part 36 and is providedwith a series of shallow pockets 42, preferably spaced equidistant in acircle, as shown, and are adapted to receive the upper ends of the dogs38. The dogs 38 are limited in their upward movement by the tops of thesplines 39 striking against the lower face of the upper part of theclutch 41, and the beveled faces of the dogs 38 permit of a rotation ofthe upper part 41 in one direction relative to the lower part 36, thedogs 38 yielding downwardly to allow this motion.

42 is a gear keyed to a stub-shaft 80, the shaft 80 being mounted in thejournal-bearing 29, and a crank-pin 43 is screwed into the gear 42. Apitman 44 is connected with the gear 42 by the crank-pin 43 and with thesleeve 11 by a pin 45, which is screwed into the wing 14. A pinion c onthe upper end of the shaft 31 meshes with the gear 42.

50 designates in a general way an auxiliary air-pump, which comprises acylinder 51, which is attached to the side wall of the main cylinder 3.A trunk-piston 52 is provided which extends through the end of thecylinder 51, and a yoke 53 is fastened to the projecting end by nuts 54and 55, which are screwed onto the piston and clamp opposite ssides ofthe yoke.

56 designates a yoke, the two legs of which are fastened to the wing 14by cap-screws 57, and the yoke 56 is provided with an oliset arm 58.

59 designates a pair of connecting-rods, which connect the arm 58 withthe yoke 53, as shown.

The piston 52 has an internal bore of two diameters. rlhe larger borereceives a longitudinally-corrugated valve 60, which is slidable in thepiston 52, being resiliently pressed against a shoulder 61 by acoil-spring 62, the tension of which may be regulated by anadjusting-screw 63, which is screwed into the outer end of the piston52. The adjustingscrew 63 is provided with a central hole 64 for theescape of air when the valve 60 is moved away from its seat.

rlhe cylinder 51 is provided with a web 65, having a central air-passage66, and the web forms a seat for an admission-valve 67, the periphery ofwhich is corrugated, as shown in Fig. X, and is provided with a stem 68,which is slidable within the hollow shank of an adjusting-screw 69,which is screwed into the end of the cylinder 51. 70 is a coil-springinterposed between the valve 67 and the adjusting-screw 69 and serves tonormally hold the valve 67 yieldingly against its seat, its tensionbeing regulated by an adjusting-screw 69. The cylinder 51 is thus formedinto two chambers, one of which may be terlned the "piston-chamber andthe other the valve-chamber. The valve-chamber has an outlet 71, whichis connected by a pipe 72 with an inlet 73 in the main cylinder 3. Whilethe piston 15 covers the inlet 73 when fully retracted anddoes notuncover the inlet 73 until it has moved forward to the positionindicated by dotted lines in Fig. II, it is obvious that the pump 50 iscompressing air during the outward stroke of the piston 15, and air fromthe pump cannot enter the cylinder 3 until it has beencompressedsufficiently to over-balance the pressure in cylinder 3, and the inrushof compressed air from the pump 50 to the cylinder 3 does not occuruntil the piston 15 has substantially reached the outward limit ofitsstroke and the pressure within the cylinder 3 has fallen to practicallyits lowest point. Hence the location of the inlet 73 is not absolutelyarbitrary, it of course being necessary that the inlet 73 be uncoveredwhen the piston 15 has reached the limit of its outward stroke. Thecylinder 51 is also provided with air-holes 74, which admit air to thecylinder when the piston 52 is retracted, but which are closed as soonas the piston moves forward.

Motion is imparted to the driving-shaft by the flexible shaft 34, thusrotating the pinion c and gear 42 and reciprocating the sleeve 11through the medium of the pitman 44, when rod 44, causing the pinion c,gear 42, and

shaft 31 to be rotated ahead, and this forward movement of the partsVmay be a .trifle faster than if moved directly by the flexible shaft34.v However, the flexible shaft 34 permits ofthis faster forwardmovement, Vand by the nature of its construction the flexible shaftfollows up the rotative lead of the parts during the forward stroke,sothat itis ready toreturn the piston at the termination of the forwardstroke. Thus itwill be seen that4 the working stroke of the piston andlstriking of-the drill is performed directly by compressed air and thatthe return stroke of the pistonand drill is caused directly by themechanicalI operation of the parts. The drill strikes the rock from`the-impulse derived from the compressed air, and thus at the time ofimpact of the drill -against the rock the force back of the piston isresilient and thew cushioning effect of. the compressed air obviates thedangerous shock of the reaction Aupon the machine, which would occur ifthe drill were propelled forward by the mechanical movement of thepitman and gear.v

As the sleeve 14 is reciprocated by the piston the piston 52 isreciprocated within its cylinder 51 through the medium of itsconnections before described, and at every forward stroke of the drill-air is compressed'withinthe cylinder 5l. The tension ofthe spring 70 isregulated so that when thev pressure within the main cylinder 3 fallsbjelow a certain point the valve 67 will be opened by the compressed airwithin cylinder 51, which will allow the air to pass through ythepipe-72 into the cylinder 3, thus-raising the pressure within thecylinder 3 to the required point. As soon as the pressure withinthecylinder 3 has been raised to the required point 'it causes-a balancingof pressures within the cylinders 51 and3, which allows the spring-70'to close the valve 67,- and it does not open again until thepressure Within the cyl-inder 3 has again fallen below-the desiredpoint: Thus the pressure `within the cylinder 3 is maintainedautomatically. When the pressure within-thel cylinder 51rises above adesired point, the spring 62 yields and allows the valve 60 to be forcedaway from its seat, which allows the escapeV ber d, in which therifle-bar 22 lies when the piston is retracted, and the block 23 isprovided. with perforatons e. lt will be noted that the thickness ofthe-sleeve24 is such that when the piston is retracted there is a spacemunicationwithv the clearance-space behind the-piston through the mediumof the perforations e. This gives a sufficient volume of air to becompressed, so that in advancing the drill there will be a more; steadypressure of air behind the piston than there would be if the pistonpressed avery small volume into merely clearance -space In the lattercase the compression would be extremely high and the fall in pressurewould be very great, which result is not desired. In the` forward stroketon and is useful when-the drill is Yrunning free from impact with therock. It should be noted that noopposition'is given to the Vforwardstroke of the piston until the nose 17 l. enters-the extension 10,- asup to that time ther airin front of ythepiston is Afree to escape intothe extension 1.0 and out ofthe slot 1'1. What I claim isf 1. Acylinder, a piston therein, a drill-carrying element connected to thepiston, mech# -connected thereto, a pitman, means for connecting thepitman with'the piston-rod, a head connected to the rear of thecylinder, the upper portion of which is cupped and aportion of the headbeing formed in a journal, a shaft in the journal, a gear on the shaft,said gear lying within the cupped portion, and a crankpin connectingthepitman and gear.

3. A cylinder, a piston therein, a piston-rod connected thereto, apitman, means-for ,con-

necting the pitman with the piston-rod, ahead connected to` the rear ofthe cylinder, the up- 'pe'r portion of which is cupped and a portion ofthe head being. formed in a journal, a shaft inthe journal, a gear onthe shaft, said gear lying within the cupped portion, a crank connectingthe=pitman and gear, another Ajournal formed in the head, adriving-shaft Ymounted in the journal, a pinion on the driving-shaftwithin the cupped portion of the head and meshing with the gear.

4. A cylinder, a piston therein, a piston-rod connected thereto, aslotted extension from the forward end of the cylinder, a sleeve on thepiston-rod having a Wing which plays in the slot of the extension, ahead on the rear of the cylinder, the head having a cupped portion and aplurality of journals, a shaft in one journal, a gear on said shaft andwithin the cupped portion, a driving-shaft in the other journal, apinion on said driving-shaft within the cupped portion meshing with thegear, a pitman, a crank-pin through one end of the pitman screwed to thegear,and a pin through the other end of the pitman screwed to the wingof the sleeve.

5. A cylinder, a piston therein, a piston-rod connected thereto, apitman, means for connecting the pitman with the piston-rod, a gearconnected to the pitman, an air-pump, means for admitting air from theair-pump tothe cylinder, and means connecting the air-pump with thepiston-rod for working the air-pump.

6. A cylinder, a piston therein, a piston-rod connected thereto, apump-cylinder, a piston in the pump-cylinder, a yoke on the pumppiston,a yoke connected with the first pistonrod, rods connecting the twoyoles, and means for conveying compressed air from the pumpcylinder tothe first cylinder.

7. A cylinder, a piston therein, a pistonrod connected thereto, a sleeveon the pistonrod, a pitman connecting with the sleeve, means foractuating the pitman, a pump-cylinder attached to the first cylinder, apiston in the pump-cylinder, means for connecting the pump-piston withthe first piston-rod, means for conveying compressed air from thepump-cylinder to the first cylinder, and a valve in the pump-cylinderfor controlling the admission of compressed air to the first cylinder.

8. A cylinder, a piston therein, a pistonrod connected thereto, a sleeveon the pistonrod, a pitman connecting with the sleeve, means foractuating the pitman, a pump-cylinder attached to the first cylinder, apiston in the pump-cylinder, means for connecting the pump-piston withthe first piston-rod, means for conveying compressed air from thepump-cylinder to the first cylinder, a valve in the pump-cylinder forcontrolling the admission of compressed air to the first cylinder, and arelief-valve in the pump -piston for preventing an abnormal pressurewithin the pump-cylinder.

9. A cylinder, a piston therein, a pistonrod connected thereto, a sleeveon the pistonrod, a pitman connecting with the sleeve, means foractuating the pitman, a pump-cylinder attached to the first cylinder, apiston in the pump-cylinder, means for connecting the pump-piston Withthe first piston-rod, means for conveying compressed air from thepump-cylinder to the first cylinder, a valve in the pump-cylinder forcontrolling the admission of compressed air to the first cylinder, saidadmission-valve having a corrugated periphery, a web in thepump-cylinder forming a seat for said valve, a spring for pressing saidvalve against said web, and means for regulating the tension of saidspring.

l0. A cylinder, a piston therein, a pistonrodconnected thereto, a sleeveon the pistonrod, a pitman connecting with the sleeve, means foractuating the pitman, a pump-cylinder attached to the first cylinder, apiston in the pump-cylinder, means for connecting the pump-piston withthe first piston-rod, means for conveying compressed air from thepump-cylinder to the first cylinder, a valve in the pump-cylinder forcontrolling the admission of compressed air to the first cylinder, saidadmission-valve having a corrugated periphery, a web in thepump-cylinder forming a seat for said valve, a spring for pressing saidvalve against said web, means for regulating the tension of said spring,said pumppiston having a bore of two diameters, a valve having acorrugated surface lying within the larger bore, a spring for pressingsaid valve against its seat, and means for regulating the tension ofsaid spring.

1l. A cylinder, a piston therein, a pistonrod connected thereto, apitman, means for connecting the pitman with the piston-rod, a gearconnected tothe pitman, means for driveing the gear, a pump-cylinderattached tothe first cylinder, said pump-cylinder having a web forming avalve-chamber and a pistonchamber in the pump-cylinder, a pipecolnmunicating the valve-chamber with the first cylinder at a pointbehind the extreme rctracted position of its contained piston, a valvefor closing communication between the two chambers of the pump-cylinder,and adjustable resilient means for holding said valve against its seat.

l2. A cylinder, a piston therein, a pistonrod connected thereto, apitman, means for connecting the pitman with the piston-rod, a gearconnected to the pitman, means for driveing the gear, a pump-cylinderattached to the first cylinder, said pump-cylinder having a web forminga valve-chamber and a pistonchamber in the pump-cylinder, a pipecommunicating the valve-chamber with the first cylinder at a pointbehind the extreme retracted position of its contained piston, a valvefor closing communication between the two chambers of the pump-cylinder,adjustable resilient means for holding said valve against its seat, andadjustable means for relieving the pressure within the piston-chamber.

13. A cylinder, a piston therein, a pistonrod connected thereto, apitman, means for connecting the pitman to the piston-rod, a head at therear of the cylinder having two journals, a shaft in one journal, a gearon the shaft connected to said pitmansrod, a drivingshaft mounted in theother journal, said driving-shaftbeing in twosections, a pinion attachedto the upper section and meshing with said gear, and a clutch connectingthe two sections of the driving-shaft comprising two 15. A cylinder, apiston therein, an auXiliary air-chamber at the rear of the cylinder andcommunicating therewith, a drill-carrying element connected to thepiston, and means for retracting said piston and compressing air withinthe cylinder at the rear of the piston and also within the auxiliaryair-chamber, said piston being advanced by the compressed air soproduced.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto Vsigned my name, in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses, at Los Angeles, in the. county of Los Angelesand State of Califor.

nia, this 27th day ofv November, 1903.

EDWIN R. L'ANGFORD.

Witnesses:

GEORGE T. 'HACKLEY, JULIA TowNsEND.

